Adapt Finder views

Get files listed the way you want for clarity at a glance

Finder windows can display files in various views, selected from icons in the toolbar at the top. Two of these — List and Column — are the most customizable.

Pressing Cmd+J brings up the View Options window. Here you can pick a view from Finder’s toolbar icons at any time and the panel switches to options for it.

Clicking Use as Defaults at the foot of View Options you’ll see current options respected by any new folders that you create — including the column headers you’ve made visible or hidden. However, existing folders retain their own settings. To set a folder to use your new defaults, open its view options, hold Opt and click Restore Defaults.

At the top of View Options, check mark Always open in to use this view every time you open the folder. Check Browse in to open any subfolders the same way.